August 8, 2022 at 8:35 a.m.
Rebels cap strong 2022 summer with trip to state
Rebels cap strong 2022 summer with trip to state
"It's been a wild ride from starting with these guys at eight, nine years old. It's been a helluva ride," ace pitcher Isaac Bixby, who was part of regional runner-up finishes in 2019 and 2021, said after the Rebels punched their ticket with a 2-0 win over Antigo July 23 in the regional championship game. "It's a huge relief breaking that wall, finally getting to where we got to go."
The Rebels exorcized some demons along the way, beating Medford three times during the summer after Medford's fateful 11-run inning stunned Rhinelander last year less than six outs from a state berth.
Rhinelander then had to get through a nemesis for much of the 2010s - Antigo - not once, but twice, to finally get back to state.
Overall, Rhinelander finished 21-5 on the season, won its home invite and was ranked second in the state Legion AA rankings for much of the year.
Here are five storylines from the recently completed season.
The big three
The Rebels had a trio of pitchers that were simply dominant all summer long in Bixby, Ryan Jamison and Joe Schneider.
One of the three was on the mound for more than 78.5% of Rhinelander's innings pitched this summer - 132 2/3 of 169 to be precise. Combined they were 20-3 with a 1.00 ERA and 162 strikeouts. They also recorded a pair of saves.
Bixby, a 2021 Rhinelander High School graduate who was still age-eligible for the 19U Legion program after leading UW-Platteville's rotation in innings pitched this spring, showed college-level command all year. He had a 0.75 ERA and 52 strikeouts compared to only nine walks over 46 2/3 innings. He went 6-2 on the season. His two losses both came in games where the Rebels were shut out offensively.
Jamison, Rhinelander's No. 1 pitcher during the spring season, put up numbers to rival Bixby going 8-1 with a 0.74 ERA and 59 strikeouts over 56 2/3 innings. Joe Schneider worked back into form after not throwing much of the spring as he recovered from offseason knee surgery. He went 6-0 with a 1.91 ERA that included a five-inning no-hit win over Tomahawk July 1. He recoded 51 strikeouts over 29 1/3 innings.
"I'd say it would rival any of the better pitching staffs I've been a part of during my legion coaching career," Huhnstock said.
In addition, the Hodags got serviceable performances on the mound from Jacksen Smith (0-1, 1 sv, 1.97 ERA, 16 SO, 10 2/3 IP) and Max Ratty (1-1, 1 sv, 5.73 ERA, 9 SO, 11 IP).
Playoff breakthrough
The Rebels rode those big three arms, some clutch defense and some timely hitting to the regional title.
Rhinelander cruised through the regular season with ease, going 18-3 and a perfect 8-0 in the Great Northern Legion Conference. That included a back-to-back wins of 5-1 and 12-2 over Medford when the two programs were ranked third and fourth in the Class AA poll.
Rhinelander and Medford met once more to kick off the regional tournament. After scoring two in the third inning, the Rebels held on down the stretch to win 2-1. The game ended on a highlight-reel double play turned by Joe Schneider, Bixby and Devyn Orth when Medford had the chance to score the tying run.
Ryan Jamison hit what proved to be the game-winning triple in the fourth inning as the Rebels got by Antigo 5-3 the next day in the winner's bracket. Antigo knocked off Medford to set up a rematch with the Rebels on championship Sunday. There, Jamison scattered three hits over seven shutout innings and Joe Schneider's bases-loaded two-run single in the fifth was enough to earn a 2-0 win and send the Rebels to state.
"We definitely did not walk through this regional at all," Schneider said afterward. "It was a dogfight every single game."
Quiet when it counted
Rhinelander's offense was solid all season, averaging 6.58 runs per game while hitting .319 at the plate. The Rebels went into the playoffs hot with a 14-1 drubbing of Clintonville in which they pounded out 16 hits - including eight for extra bases.
Unfortunately for the Rebels, that was the last time they were able to score more than five runs in a game. While Rhinelander had just enough offense to get through the regionals, the lack of production eventually caught up with the team at state.
Though Rhinelander had five hits, it either hit or ran into three double plays in a 3-0 loss to River Falls in the opener of the tournament. The Rebels could then muster only one hit off an effectively wild Kroix Kucken of Fort Atkinson in an elimination game, eventually losing 3-2 as the Hawks made a three-run rally in the sixth.
"We were just uncharacteristically cold at the plate all weekend down here," Huhnstock said. "That's facing pretty decent pitching and pretty decent defense. These are the eight best teams in the state. You've got to expect that."
Overall, Rhinelander's offense tailed off in the postseason. The Rebels hit only .211 in five tournament games between regional and state and struck out in 24.1% of their plate appearances - compared to a 15.96% strikeout rate for the season overall.
Rhinelander had only four extra base hits during the tournament, none of which came at state.
Statbook
Rhinelander's big three on the mound were also the Rebels' big three at the plate. Bixby, Jamison and Joe Schneider all batted over .400 from the summer and combined for three home runs and 47 RBIs. Joe Schneider also led the team with 13 stolen bases.
Overall, the bulk of Rhinelander's production all summer came from the top half of its order. Catcher and cleanup hitter Sam Schneider hit .359 with a home run and a team-best 26 RBIs. Devyn Orth (.318, 7 RBIs) was the only other player with at least 45 plate appearances who hit over .300 on the year.
The Rebels did have a bit more pop in their bats, hitting five home runs this summer - including a two-homer game by Jamison in Minocqua July 13. Sam Schneider (July 8 vs. Everest), Ratty (July 10 vs. Holmen) and Bixby (July 17 at Clintonville) also went deep this summer.
What's next
Next year's squad will look much different. Of the big three, only Jamison is age-eligible to return and it's unclear how many of the other age-eligible 2022 grads will return.
The team will need to develop some arms through the offseason and during the spring high school campaign to round out the pitching staff. Ratty and Sam Schneider were the only underclassmen to see any time on the mound this summer.
Offensively, the Rebels will have Schneider, Ratty and Owen Kurtz (.237, 10 RBIs) back as players who were consistently starters for the team. The team will also look for more out of players including AJ Turek, Cody Everson, Adrian Patrone, Tyler Morrison and Seth Nofftz, who saw varsity action this summer. Morrison hit .308 in limited plate appearance this summer while Everson hit .267 with 10 RBIs.
"We've got some huge holes to fill for next year, but a number of these guys got a taste of what it takes to be on a team that is competitive every game, game in and game out," Huhnstock said. "Hopefully the younger guys learn from that and take something from it."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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